There appeared very much to be 500, give or take, in attendance packing the recreational center of John Anson Ford Park in Bell Gardens, California for the historic first Dragon Gate show to be held in the United States. So we’re talking BoLA heat in the building. Virually every other seat had someone fanning themselves with either one of the Dragon Gate fans they bought at the merchandise table or making one out of the PWG flyers placed on their seats.

The show opened roughly ten minutes before 8pm with an exhibition triple-threat match courtesy of WPW.

0. Dragon Gate Invitation Match
Amazing Junior vs. Infernal vs. Lil’ Cholo
The idea is that the winner could earn a future tour in Dragon Gate. Nice little lucha-style match that had all three get some time to showcase their stuff. Most of the fans were more familiar with Cholo than the others and were clearly behind him, though some of the aerials Junior did earned him some cheers. One scary moment saw Cholo attempt a dive on the others on the floor, but did a bad rotation which nearly caused him to get clotheslined by the neck on the top rope. The match itself was still fun nonetheless with Cholo getting the finish after nailing Junior with an interesting lucha driver that’s kind of hard to describe.
Winner: Lil’ Cholo

We are treated to the audio opening for the Dragon Gate show, similar to those heard during pay-per-views only this one was spoken in English. After “DRAGON STORM 2007” was played, Dragon Gate ring announcer Naoto Kikuchi and resident Southern California wrestling ring announcer Jon Ian welcomed everyone to the show and ran down the card. Naoto would speak normally in Japanese then Jon would translate. They confirmed that Vampiro, who was replacing Dos Caras on the card, was indeed out. They said it was due to unforseen circumstances. What was funny was that when this was mentioned there was a big cheer. They announced his replacement was another old name in lucha libre Kendo. It was time to kick off the show.

1. Opening Match
El Generico vs. Genki Horiguchi
Generico was wearing his Tozawa-juku gear. Genki was seconded by his Real Hazard unit parters Gamma, YAMATO and Yasushi Kanda. Their presence was clearly felt during the match as when Generico was dominating the three would pull something to get the momentum swinging over to Genki. Pretty good match to officially start the show and set the pace for what was to come. Generico got the victory after nailing a Yakuza Kick and followed up with a Cradle Brainbuster.
Winner: El Generico

After the match, the rest of Real Hazard jumped in to beat down Generico until the WORLD-1 music played, prompting BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi to rush in and make the save. Doi and Gamma then engaged in a verbal battle, beginning in Japanese. Doi then demanded Gamma, “Speak English!” Gamma refused, but finally told him in English that WORLD-1 would lose. Doi got the crowd going with chants of “You go home!” at Gamma. By this point, Gamma was generating so much natural heat he was just being as awesome of a heel as ever. Once Real Hazard disappeared into the back, Doi welcomed everyone to Dragon Gate and told them to have a good time.

Before the start of the next match, Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa came out and introduced himself to the fans in English. He noted that while Necro Butcher was a dangerous wrestler, he was going to show everyone that he was more dangerous. This match already ruled even before it began.

2. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa Bosou 10 Match Series No. 5 – Dangerous Comedy Match
Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa vs. Necro Butcher
I should note that Naoto would do his normal announcements in Japanese. When he was done introducing a wrestler or team, Jon would then make the same announcement in English. So essentially guys were getting two sets of cheers. Any way, the match began with Stalker slapping Necro across the face. So Necro knocked him out with a punch in the face. Put his foot on Stalker’s chest and scored the pinfall. Eighteen seconds! It was brilliant.
Winner: Necro Butcher

Just was Necro was making his way to the back, Stalker got on the microphone and demanded an immediate rematch. The fans were chantting for the match to be restart so Necro threw his hands in the air and jumped back in the ring to start again.

2b. Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa Bosou 10 Match Series No. 5 – Dangerous Comedy Match
Hollywood Stalker Ichikawa vs. Necro Butcher
Stalker slapped Necro across the face again and this time ducked the punch. Stalker attempted the Kanchou, which only confused and irritated Necro at first. After a back an forth series of Stalker trying to complete a Kanchou that would harm Necro and Necro hitting Stalker about, Stalker finally managed a leaping Kanchou that caused Necro pain. Nothing short of brilliant. From here on was comedy wrestling of the finest, managing to even eclipse Necro vs. Kikutaro from last month. The finish saw Necro put Stalker away with the Tiger Bomb on a pile of chairs for the win. This match was a thing of beauty.
Winner: Necro Butcher

3. Special Attraction Tag Team Match
Dragon Kid and Kendo vs. Tozawa-juku of Keni’chiro Arai and Taku Iwasa
So according to Luchawiki, Kendo was a lucha wrestler from the seventies, eighties and nineties who had quite a confusing career in both Mexico and Japan. About the best I could do at the moment. Much of the action centered around Arai and Iwasa double teaming on Dragon Kid since Kendo apparently blew up rather quick at the start, though it might’ve been a combination of that and the heat in the building. Essentially from then on Kendo moved real slow, forcing Dragon Kid to take the brunt of the action. Seeing the double team moves Arai and Iwasa perform was awesome and it earned a lot of cheers and applauds from the fans. The finish saw Dragon Kid and Kendo mount a comeback, with Kendo actually digging deep to perform a suicide plancha onto Iwasa on the floor. One really cool spot was Iwasa and Arai attempting to do a move in the corner until Kendo stopped them and had Arai perched on Iwasa’s shoulders, who was already sitting on the top turnbuckle, for Dragon Kid to leap up and hit Arai with a super hurricanrana. Dragon Kid later scored the win pinning Arai with the Ultra Hurricanrana. Alright match for what it was.
Winners: Dragon Kid and Kendo.

After the match, Genki suddenly hit the ring and jumped Kendo. Then a man wearing the Dos Caras mask rushed in to make the save. It was obvious who was under the mask when he nailed a superkick and followed with the Schwein. With Genki laid out, he took off his mask and sure enough it was CIMA. This told me that he was getting closer to being ready to go to return to the ring after being on the shelf for so long with the bad neck. CIMA got on the microphone to give his thanks to everyone for coming and telling them to continue to enjoy the show.

4. PAC vs. Shingo Takagi
This match was booked weeks ago. Just over the weekend, Shingo joined the Typhoon unit which PAC is a part of. They played out the match like Shingo was not yet officially representing the unit. Let me just say that PAC had an absolute fantastic week in his return to Southern California. He had two great nights for PWG over the weekend and now he was in an awesome match with Shingo for the Dragon Gate show. How awesome was the match? It was the only match of the night to elicit the “This is awesome!” chants from the fans. Both men really went out there and showed their stuff from start to finish in such fast paced, high impact manner that the fans were jumping to their feet at every pin attempt. Shingo finally got the win after nailing PAC with the Made in Japan. Both were giving a well deserved standing ovation. It truly was a fantastic match.
Winner: Shingo Takagi

Intermission took place for a brief period. It was at this point that those who bought the T-shirt designed specifically for the tour by FMW superstar Hayabusa would get to have their picture taken with him. Hayabusa was also selling silver jewelry he himself designed. A very pleasant man to meet. He was joined at the merchandise table by CIMA, Arai, Iwasa and Shingo while Dragon Kid appeared at the table for one of the tour sponsors.

The announcers take a moment to put over the appearance of Hayabusa, who was cheered and applauded by the fans. I should note that there were points in the last few matches where he managed to stand on his legs while holding crutches so that he could get a better view. He’s still a ways away from ever walking again and needed assistance to stand, but the man was as tough as they came. All the more wonderful it was to meet him.

Doi tried to convince Gamma into having a one-on-one match right then and there. Gamma, instead, tried to attack everyone with his kendo stick only to be fought off by Doi and eventually ran off with the rest of Real Hazard into the back. Doi then thanked the fans for attending the show and made note that they will be looking to run return show next year. At the end, virtually the entire roster minus Real Hazard came into the ring for one big group picture. From there, they all migrated to the merchandise table to sell off the remaining goodies, sign autographs, and take pictues.

This show was an overwhelming success. An awesome singles match, an excellent main event, a really great tag title match and some good to decent undercard matches really made for just an incredible evening of wrestling. Fast pace and high impact from start to finish, Dragon Gate had really set their mark on those in attendance. And the whole experience of watching wrestling and meeting the wrestlers made for just a fantastic night. Can’t wait for their return next year.

– DRAGON GATE US show news: With the show just over 2 months away, the first information for the inaugural Dragon Gate show on US soil is now available. As was known, the date for the show is September 5th. It will originate from John Anson Ford Park in Bell Gardens, CA. The first tickets will be available over July 15-17 at WPW shows in Costa Mesa. CIMA himself will be there to sell them. Tickets will be available online soon.In addition to the main Dragon Gate roster and familiar faces PAC, El Generico, and the Young Bucks, there are several guests lined up. Mexican legend and trainer for the 1st term graduates, Dos Caras will be appearing. Former FMW star Hayabusa will also be in attendance.